Justin Patton delivers in PBA debut as San Miguel cruises past Macau

Justin Patton turned in a solid PBA debut and helped San Miguel get back on track in the Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup by keeping Macau winless through a dominant 110-94 victory, Tuesday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

The former NBA pro finished with all-around numbers of 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting, 17 rebounds, two assists, three steals, and a block as he led the traditional contenders’ early surge to seize full control of the match.

He already had 18 points in the first half to show the way toward a 62-51 lead at the half, and the locals would buckle down to work come the third for the breakaway toward improving to .500 anew in the standings with a 2-2 record.

The Black Knights, on the other hand, fell to their fifth loss in as many outings, thus remaining the only winless team in this midseason joust.

(C) PBA Images

“Makikita niyo naman kanina, he really wanted to play, and I gave him a lot of time because hindi pa adjusted to the Philippine brand of basketball. He’s trying to figure it out,” offered head coach Leo Austria on the 7-foot-1 Patton.

“Yesterday, we had a long practice, for him to know what kind of plays we’re going to run. The good thing with him, lahat ng sinasabi namin, he was able to pick it up right away,” added the four-time Coach of the Year.

CJ Perez top-scored for SMB with 26 points, alongside three rebounds and five assists. June Mar Fajardo nearly tallied a triple-double, as he finished with 16 points, 16 rebounds, and six assists, and added two steals as well.

Marcio Lassiter made 12 points, spiked by two triples, while Don Trollano added 10 markers, five rebounds, and four assists, in the victory that brought them back on track after getting blown out by Bol Bol and TNT last Saturday.

The bounce-back, furthermore, served as a warm welcome to Jericho Cruz, who’s back in action after being out for nearly a month due to back spasms.

“Siyempre, ‘pag buo kami, mas masaya,” offered Perez, who came away with Player of the Game honors. “Pag sama-sama mas may tsansa manalo.”

By beating Macau, SMB has regained much-needed confidence before heading into a killer stretch ahead, in which it will be facing Ginebra, current leaders Rain or Shine, and another rival in Magnolia in its next three games.

That starts this Easter Sunday with the Kings in a battle between long-time league heavyweights, to be held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.

“Going into this game, we were really worried because at 1-2, we cannot afford to lose another game at maging 1-3 before the Holy Week break,” Austria said.

“Magandang baon ito para papunta ng simbahan, maraming babati sa inyo na nanalo kayo,” the 68-year-old bench tactician added in jest.

(C) PBA Images

Tony Mitchell, on the other hand, had 23 points and 10 rebounds for Macau, who actually tried to fight back between the third and fourth quarters.

They managed to cut what was once a 25-point third-quarter gap to only eight early in the final period behind guard Phoenix Shackelford, but Cruz and Lassiter responded with five quick points to keep them at bay.

And those buckets would actually trigger the run to put it away for good, as Patton and Rodney Brondial came in to help out and put together a 12-0 rally in total to make it a 105-85 spread entering the game’s final seven minutes.

Damian Chongqui had 19 points, five rebounds, and seven assists. Ramon Cao supplied a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Lao Chonpong made 15 points off the bench, while Jenning Leung added 11 points and nine rebounds for a Black Knights team that has hardly made any improvements despite bringing in a new head coach in Marcus Elliott.

The Scores:

San Miguel 110 – Perez 26, Patton 24, Fajardo 16, Lassiter 12, Trollano 10, Cruz 7, Tautuaa 6, Tiongson 5, Brondial 2, Calma 2, Miller 0, Cahilig 0, Mantua 0.

Macau 94 – Mitchell 23, Chongqui 19, Cao 18, Lao 15, Leung 11, Shackelford 6, Chao 2, Li 0, Lu 0, Chen 0, Zhu 0.

Quarterscores: 33-26, 62-51, 93-83, 110-94.

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